Juviella
by Rhov
Summary: Once upon a time, Juviella lived with her sweet but demonic stepmother, and her kind but love-rival stepsisters, forced to do the cleaning since she knew water magic, until the day her fairy godmother Mavis gives her ice slippers so she can attend Prince Gray-sama's ball. A cute Gruvia twist to the classic Cinderella fairy tale.


_A/N: This was written for the 2012 Destiny Competition hosted by the Love-Fairy-Tail community on DeviantArt, where my team won 2nd place. (Yes, I'm just NOW remembering to post it here.) The theme was "fairy tales," and our team came up with this spin on Cinderella. I wrote a fanfic and drew a picture for it. Not my best work, but it was a rushed contest. See the full picture here: fav. me/d5v3fxh (remove space)  
_

_Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and all the characters belong to Hiro Mashima._

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**Juviella**

a _Fairy Tail_ fanfic

by Rhov (and her teammates)

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Juviella. She lived with her stepmother Mirajane and two kind—but love rival—stepsisters named Lucy and Lisanna. Because Juviella could use water magic, she was stuck with all the cleaning, although Lucy had her own maid named Virgo and Lisanna brought home animals all the time, yet never cleaned up after them.

One day, an announcement from the king's castle arrived.

_Hear ye, hear ye! Upon the full moon, a ball shall be held in honor of Prince Gray. All the ladies of the land are to attend, and at this ball the prince shall choose his bride. Signed, King Makarov._

All the ladies of Magnolia bustled to fix up their best gowns. Lucy had Virgo bring her a sparkling silver gown from the Spirit World. Lisanna made a soft fur coat that shimmered like gold in the sunlight. Mirajane tittered as her two daughters prepared, but she realized Juviella was not getting ready.

"Aren't you going?" she asked in tender concern.

Juviella looked to the cinders in the hearth. "Juviella does not have nice outfits, only these old rags Juviella wears for cleaning."

"I see. Well, if you do all your chores, then I'll let you borrow one of my dresses, but if not..." Suddenly, Mirajane took on a satanic aura. "You're staying home without supper. I refuse to have this house looking like a pigsty!" Then once again, she smiled sweetly. "Okay?"

Shivering, Juviella agreed and got straight to work. However, Lisanna had brought home more stray animals: three cats, three lizards, and something she claimed was a dog but looked like a snowman or a bug. She brought the animals into the barn, then left Juviella to feed them while she hurried to get ready. Lucy had summoned her personal hairdresser Cancer, but he could only be around for a short time, so they had to hurry if they wanted their hair to look just right.

After dealing with Lisanna's farm of abandoned animals, picking up Lucy's scattered books, and using her water magic to scrub the dishes and floors, Juviella finally finished the chores. Although she missed Cancer's visit, Mirajane kept her end of the deal and gave Juviella one of her dresses. However, the white-haired stepmother was much bustier than Juviella, and there was no time to tailor the dress to fit.

"Oh my!" Mirajane sighed. "You can't go out if your bra is showing through the low-cut bodice. You'll bring shame to this house. Can't you wear your regular clothes?"

"No, Juviella will look like a servant! Juviella wants to see Prince Gray-sama looking pretty, not in cinders."

"Then you have to stay home."

They headed off in the family carriage, leaving Juviella alone with the farm animals. She began to cry, and suddenly the sky clouded over with an approaching storm.

"Don't cry," came a small voice.

Suddenly, the barn lighted bright, gold brilliance blinded the night, and it coalesced into a small blonde woman.

Rhyming everything, the little lady said, "I'm Mavis, your fairy godmother, how do you do! If you cry, it'll rain, and that will ruin the party, too. What can I do, to help you to stop crying and looking so blue?"

"Juviella only wants to attend the ball, but Juviella can't go looking like this."

"You'll look like a princess when I'm through. First, you need a way to get there, and in style, too. This pumpkin will do. Fairy-bobbidy-boo!" Suddenly, the pumpkin turned into a gleaming carriage of gold and glass. "And you need to make a flashy entrance, so plain horses won't do. Ah!" Mavis looked down in shock as a blue cat rubbed against her leg. "Yes, yes, true! The cats will work, too. Fairy-bobbidy-boo!" Suddenly Lisanna's three stray cats grew wings.

"Flying cats?" Juviella asked uncertainly.

"Aye!" the blue one grinned.

"_Talking_ flying cats?" Juviella exclaimed.

"Unique, true?" Mavis tittered. "Oh, but three is as awkward as a wrong screw. We need a fourth...yes, you!"

Mavis turned to the cone-nosed dog who had been shaking unsteadily as he sniffed the carriage. She pointed her magic wand at Plue, and he also grew wings. He flapped them awkwardly and said "Pu-puun" in bewilderment. Happy had Plue stand next to him and hooked him up to the carriage reins.

"Next are servants, a loyal crew. We want you to look like a princess true! No pigs, no chickens, nothing that will coo. Ah, lizards, they will do. Fairy-bobbidy-boo!"

The three lizards turned into people. The darker spiked lizard Lisanna named Gajeel sat on the carriage's drivers seat. The pink salamander named Natsu took a place as a footman, and the purple baby lizard named Wendy turned into a little girl who, the fairy godmother explained, would be Juviella's personal attaché.

Mavis nodded in approval. "Now the hair, a glamorous dress, and chic style of shoe. We must find a match that is uniquely you. Rain woman, the water you rule, so I'm thinking something blue. Ah, yes, an older style I once knew. It was perfectly fit you. Fairy-bobbity-boo!"

Suddenly Juviella wore a dress like a summer sunny sky, her blue hair laid in lockets with a tiara of silver and pearls, and on her feet...

"They're cold!" she screamed.

"Ice shoes!" Mavis beamed happily. "They're all the rage, too. Keeps down swelling so you can dance all night through. Then you won't need to rest until the prince has fallen in love with you. But on the stroke of midnight, all shall go back, so hurry, hurry, off with you! Have fun as you woo. Stay away from fireplaces, too. Fairy...bobbity...boo!" Then Mavis vanished like a ghost.

Juviella rode through the air in the golden pumpkin carriage pulled by Plue and the three flying cats. Although Natsu the Footman was vomiting the whole way, they made it to the castle fast. Wendy walked just behind Juviella as if she was a lady-in-waiting while the lovely rain woman glided up the lengthy staircase to the castle entrance. Inside, music filled the air, crystal lacrima chandeliers brightened the summer night, while the smell of fine cook mixed with potent perfumes. All guests in the ballroom stared in wonder at this newly arrived blue beauty.

"Juviella wonders where Prince Gray-sama could be," she mused as she glanced around. "Juviella has never seen the prince. I heard he's a cold man, but he must be kind at heart."

On the royal dais in the front of the ballroom, Prince Gray had grown bored. None of the ladies appealed to him, and King Makarov had to keep smacking him to prevent him from pulling off his royal clothes.

Archduke Elfman laughed at the party atmosphere. "Music, dancing, lords and ladies of the land. It's manly to have a ball!"

"Whatever," Prince Gray grumbled. "I need a smoke."

He went out to the garden, and finally he could strip out of the constrictive formal wear. There he found Juviella wandering and calling for Wendy, who had gotten lost after leaving for the bathroom. She saw the half-naked man and didn't know he was the prince. Wearing only his underwear, she thought perhaps he was a servant boy.

"Ah, can you help search for a little girl with bluish-purple hair?"

Prince Gray was shocked that this woman dared to address him so informally, but by her appearance he guessed she must be a duchess or countess. "Um...sure. But first, what's your name?"

Juviella feared that if she told this _servant_ her name, she might get in trouble for wandering outside of the party. So she demanded that they find the girl first, and then she would give her name. They searched all through the royal gardens, but Wendy was nowhere to be found. Finally they sat together by a fountain to rest in the warm summer night.

"Water is so relaxing," Juviella sighed. Suddenly, little shapes of water came out of the fountain looking like toy dancers. The sprite-like water forms danced around Juviella and Gray.

"Is that you doing this?" Prince Gray asked in amazement. Juviella giggled at his reaction. For a _servant boy_, he was very cute! "That's a beautiful magic," Gray admired. "I have something similar, but I can do this. Ice Make: Rose!" In his hand formed a crystalline rose. He attached it to a pin in Juviella's hair. "It suits you."

Juviella was speechless and blushed fiercely at how his blue eyes shined in the full moon.

"Ah, but I'll get in trouble if I stay like this," Gray realized. "Help me find my clothes. I left them somewhere."

They searched for Gray's clothing. As he put them on piece by piece, Juviella realized this was no servant boy.

"You! You're Prince Gray-sama!"

"Gray-sama?" he asked. "Just call me Gray. What's your name, my lady?"

Now she truly feared giving her name in case the prince himself got her in trouble for wandering freely around the castle.

"Okay, fine, be bashful. Still, dance with me," he offered instead.

She giggled coyly. "Does Prince Gray-sama normally order women to dance?"

"Huh? Ah, um, no...no, just...you know, if you want to..."

"Juvi-...I..." she corrected, "...would love to dance."

They returned to the ballroom where Wendy was already by a table eating cookies and giggling that her plan to give the two some time alone worked. Prince Gray proved to be a superb dancer, and with her ice shoes, Juviella never felt fatigue. They did not speak much, but the way his eyes shined down on her made Juviella's heart race and her cheeks blushed.

Up on the royal dais, King Makarov saw Prince Gray dancing. "Ooh, he's got himself a cutie!"

Archduke Elfman nodded proudly. "Manly!"

To the side, Lucy and Lisanna were too busy fighting over the pink-haired footman Natsu who had wandered into the ballroom after smelling good meat. They didn't see Juviella, but Mirajane did. However, the girl looked so different from the cinder-covered daughter who was little more than a servant, so Mirajane could not be certain who the lady was.

For the rest of the night, Prince Gray only danced with Juviella. However, eventually the clock struck midnight, and Juviella panicked. It was even worse when guests began to scream about a lizard, and Juviella looked over to see Wendy had turned back into a baby reptile.

Natsu ran away from Lucy and Lisanna, picked up the tiny purple lizard, grabbed Juviella's arm, and pulled her away from the prince. "We gotta go now! Hurry!" he shouted, pulled her through the crowd.

Prince Gray ran after them. "You squinty-eyed bastard! What are you doing with her?"

Juviella called back over her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Prince Gray-sama, but we really must leave."

"Yeah," Natsu sassed. "Go back to your sissy party, ya droopy-eyed ice prince."

"Shut up, flame-brain pinky!"

"Pinky?" Natsu roared in anger, and flames came up on the salamander's skin. "No one calls me pinky. Juviella, hurry. I'll hold him off. Fire Dragon's Claw!"

Juviella ran off from the fight between fire and ice. Through the moonlit night, she heard more gongs from the clock tower. Eight, nine, ten...

As she raced down the broad stairs, one of her ice slippers came off. She paused, ready to retrieve it, when the fight between Gray and Natsu got out of hand.

"Ice-Make: Bazooka!"

Natsu was hit, flew down the stairs, slammed into Juviella, and the two of them smashed into the pumpkin carriage. Carriage, flying cats (and Plue), Gajeel, and all were thrown into some nearby woods just as the twelfth gong hit. Then, in a flash of magic, the carriage became a pumpkin and smashed into a tree, splattering all over. The wings on the animals vanished, and they dropped to Juviella's lap, meowing pathetically. Gajeel flashed and become a spiky lizard once more. Natsu had used himself to shield Juviella during the crash, but she saw that her dress had returned to rags.

"Are you hurt?" Natsu asked as his body began to shimmer. He took tiny Wendy out of his pocket. "It was fun being human for a night. See ya around, Juviella." Then even he turned back into a pink salamander.

Juviella gathered the animals as she heard a call for guards. She hurried away in her rags, yet she realized the ice slipper was still on her foot. She took it off, hid it in her pocket, and ran home. Meanwhile, on the stairs, Prince Gray found the lost ice slipper and picked it up. He had seen where the pink-haired jerk and the blue-haired beauty had crashed, yet there was no sign of a carriage or people. Only a broken pumpkin. He knew it must be some strange magic, and that intrigued him more than ever. He decided right then that he would find this mysterious lady and marry her.

The next day, Prince Gray and Archduke Elfman traveled from house to house, having women try on the ice slipper. Finally they came to Mirajane's house. Lucy and Lisanna both tried on the slipper, but it didn't fit. Prince Gray was about to leave when Archduke Elfman asked his sister Mirajane for some cool drinks on such a hot summer day. She called for Juviella to set a place for the prince.

"Of course. What would Prince Gray-sama like to drink?"

"Gray-sama?" the ice prince asked. "You, cinder-covered servant girl, come here."

Slowly, Juviella sat in a chair beside the prince, trembling inside in fear. "Juviella is not a servant girl. Juviella does all the chores because Juviella has water magic."

"Water magic? I knew it! Elfman, fetch that slipper again. It seems there's one lady of the house who we missed."

Archduke Elfman brought forth the ice slipper, but the black cat Pantherlily got under his feet. Elfman tripped, Pantherlily got angry for being stepped on and attacked the archduke with sharp claws. The slipper flew through the air, then shattered to the ground.

"Ah!" Mirajane cried out. "It's broken."

"Too bad," Lucy chuckled.

"Shut up, love rival!" Juviella yelled.

"It's okay," both Gray and Juviella said together.

"Juviella has..."

"Ice-Make..."

"...this one."

"...Ice Slipper."

Suddenly, not only did Juviella pull the matching slipper out of her pocket, but Prince Gray made a replacement for the broken shoe. He knelt down by her slender feet and slid the ice slipper on. Once both were on her feet, golden fairy magic gleamed around Juviella, and she once again transformed into the beauty at the ball. The three lizards turned into Gajeel, Wendy, and Natsu; and the three cats turned into Happy, Charle, and Pantherlily. (Only Plue remained the same.)

"Natsu!" Lucy and Lisanna cried out together.

Each grabbed one of his arms. Then they glared at each other and pulled him toward them. Natsu laughed as his arms were yanked in opposite directions. Meanwhile, Pantherlily was still angry about Elfman stepping on his tail. He found a sword and chased the archduke out of the house. Happy and Plue began to dance together.

Prince Gray took Juviella's hand and chivalrously lifted her up to her feet.

"You are the lady I was searching for all this time," he declared. "Please, become my princess."

Juviella began to cry, but unlike her usual tears that brought storm clouds, this time her tears made a rainbow in the sky. On midsummer day, Prince Gray married Juviella...

And they lived happily ever after!

**The End**


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